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Friday, November 29, 2013

I am so behind! I am heading into my exam period so my posts will be less frequent and probably very short. My first exam is on the 5th but I have essays and quizzes to get done before that. I wanted to quickly talk about my experience with the Stay all day lipstick by Stila. My mom got the Stila 500 point kit from Sephora and she doesn't wear red lipsticks so she gave me this in the shade Beso. It's 0.03 fl oz so it is a lot smaller than the full size (0.10 fl oz) and it retails for $29 CAD full size. My experience with it is that it dries very quick to a perfect matte finish. It does not transfer it lasted through me eating and drinking, with minimal fading in the centre of my bottom lip. I really like this product except that the applicator is a little hard to use. I'd suggest maybe using a red lip liner and a lip brush to fill the outside of your lips first because the applicator makes it hard for precision. I had to bring out a ton of q tips and concealer to hide my mistakes from it. Layering of the product is super easy to build up for a deeper tone, but even one layer is super pigmented. It is a bit drying on your lips but relative to other brands I'm extremely happy with it. I use lip balm before I put any form of lipstick on anyways especially now that winter is hitting Canada. You can always add a gloss or thick balm on top if your lips are dry but this will obviously not last as long on your lips if you do.Beso is a gorgeous "true red" and when it dries to the matte finish it has a really retro vibe which I love! I find it really hard to find true reds, as most of them usually have too much of an orange tone so this was a nice surprise. It is currently sold out on the Canadian Sephora website so it must be super popular! I want to test out other colours because I liked the formulation so well!

Have you tried this liquid lipstick before? What are your favourite shades?

Monday, November 25, 2013

Hey everyone! I promised I would try to get a new post up and even with my hectic night I'm able to quickly update you on how the weekend went. It was so much fun and I want to thank Robin and Pat at the Erin Mills Hudson Bay location again for having me! People came and signed up to have image consulting from Shelley - to learn more about her go to her website here, and with that came a before photo, a consultation, a makeup application and an after photo. I helped in any way that I could and talked with clients about makeup application/style as well as cleaning makeup brushes for the artists when we got overbooked and behind. I wasn't able to even take photos during the event because the Estee Lauder booth got so busy. I had sore feet all day yesterday from wearing my 5 inch Michael Kors boots for the entire afternoon. At the end of the event I was presented with an amazing Estee Lauder gift that I wanted to share with you and talk about - it even included a personal note from Lisa that made me feel extremely special. I haven't tried much Estee Lauder makeup but I did get a full face done with it on Saturday and it lasted all day I was shocked. The red lipstick in Scarlet was my lip of the day and I loved it - plus it was a long wearing one and it lasted until I got home around 7.

I literally took this the second I opened it and yes I know the quality sucks but I didn't have my camera so bear with me guys.

This cleanser is amazing for oily skin - me and my sister both own it.I love to use it if I notice that my makeups not sitting right and I want to get a good exfoliation in but it is also gentle enough to use daily. This whole line has the best fragrance. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a gentle exfoliator that can be used daily.

I've been testing this toner out, I've only ever used the EL toner that was pink but that was discontinued. This one definitely feels just as luxurious, it doesn't break me out. I use this as my morning toner to refresh and balance my skin. It smells so fresh and clean as well.

I know I've changed it up a bit and put pictures above my written but I figured it would be nice to see the pictures first. The packaging of their makeup products feels so fancy and I'm almost afraid to touch it too much because I don't want to smudge the reflective gold case. It's a gorgeous pink shade that has a sheen and a tiny bit of glitter in it, nothing too crazy though. You don't need a highlight when you wear this blush because of the satiny finish with the little bit of sparkle. It can be built up for a heavier blush look or really blended out for a flush. Definitely recommend if you're in the market for a high end blush.

I was most excited about this product because look at those gorgeous colours. I'm obsessed with plums for this season and I love glittery shades. The light pinky purple actually has a tiny bit of glitter but it's more of a satin, the glitter seems to wear off once you tap your brush into a few times, which makes it a really nice inner corner highlight. They size the shadows based on base/highlight, eyelid and then outer v but I think the outer v shade could just as easily be used as the eyelid colour. I think it has more burgundy tone to it, with the middle being a little more deeper with some brown tones in it.I feel like this will easily turn into my night time trio when I'm going out and want a sparkly deep eye look.

Have any of you tried Estee Lauder makeup or skincare? What are your favourites?

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I'm getting a new post out early today but I figured since I had a break in between writing up reports and studying I'd gladly write my post early for all of you. As I sat here listening to Christmas music I realized I haven't been giving much love to my blush collection - which is totally strange because blush is my second favourite product after lipstick. I love a strong blended blush look because it gives me colour which I normally do not have. Now I love Benefit boxed blushes. They all smell so darn good (especially Coralista) and they're so easily blended you can't really go overboard unless you wear 10 layers and don't blend them out right away. I own 3 - dandelion, Hervana and my sample size of Coralista.

Now Hervana is probably my most worn shade right now because I've been into the really pretty pink cheeks now that winters around the corner. At first I thought it would be scary with the purples in there but it's a gorgeous pink that suits my pale skin and doesn't look crazy. I definitely recommend it for fair to light medium skin tones, it might show up too fair for darker skin tones but I'm not entirely sure!

It's hard to see how gorgeous it is because its 930 pm here and I'm using a really bright light so you can see. A slight sheen but definitely not a shimmery blush.

Now, Coralista is my spring, summer, fall, winter shade. Whenever I need a pick me up in blush that I want to have a sheen and make me glow I choose this one. It smells heavenly, it makes me happy to just sniff it to be honest. It's a gorgeous coral and I think this and hervana are top shades for everyone. This shade is definitely more wearable for darker skin tones, my sisters medium skin toned (a 4.0 in the Naked Skin foundation) and it wears beautifully on her.

See how much of a sheen Coralista (right) has compared to Hervana on the left - it's beautiful! A must have.

Lastly, if you can't tell by the photo it's probably the boxed blush I've had the longest. It's definitely a classic light pink and I love it. I definitely like the newer packaging of the blushes better as they're magnetic and they don't completely remove.

Dandelion is the top, Hervana the centre and Coralista the bottom.

These blushes are pretty long wearing, I don't see fading but I typically don't have a problem with that since I use a setting spray. They smell awesome, the shades are pretty and for $36 CAD I think they're worth it because I've had dandelion for years and I'm nowhere near close to done. There's so much product in each box that they'll last you forever... literally. I highly recommend going out and getting these blushes since they're one of my favourites. I definitely need to get my hands on more - I am quite taken by the newest member to the family; the Rockateur and I'm probably going to cave and purchase that soon.

Let me know which blush boxes are your favourites and if you have any other different ones you'd recommend me to try.XOXO

Monday, November 18, 2013

Now that my roommates and I finally put up our tree and decorated for Christmas, along with drawing names for secret santa I've decided that I should upload a christmas wish list with the hopes that many of you will be able to let me know if they're worth the price. I'm currently on Songza listening to the country christmas playlist - Songza's really a great phone app/online website for when you just want to listen to a mix of different artists.

1. First up would have to be the Nars Guy Bourdin Holiday Collection Limited Edition One Night Stand Cheek Palette because I'm quite sad that I own nothing Nars and getting 4 blushes, 1 bronzer and 1 highlight seems like reason enough to splurge on this one. The colours are gorgeous.

3. Sigma Premium Brush set containing 15 pro brushes. I need to invest in some good quality brushes and Sigma has really good reviews. It ends up coming out to 12.60 per brush because the set costs $189 USD. This is cheaper than all of the quo brushes at Shoppers Drug Mart within Canada and I'm not a fan of the quality of those ones either. I have to see if I can get them for a better deal shipping from a Canadian website rather than the Sigma, I bet the shipping will be ridiculous like usual. Also want the Sigma F80 brush, the flat top kabuki, I'm sad it's not included in the kit as it's probably got the most hype out of all sigma brushes.

4. I'm in need of a new eye cream and I like both the Kiehl's creamy avocado eye cream, as well as the Origins ginzing one. I'll probably pick up whichever one is cheaper!

5. The new NAKED 3 Palette by Urban Decay has recently hit the online world with no exact information about the release date. It will sell out as soon as it hits shelves which means I will probably have to wait until after Christmas but I love the rose shades. Very me. For a great review on the new naked 3 click here. Temptalia has a fabulous review and swatches all of the shades. If you love rosey shades but don't want to have to wait the LORAC Unzipped palette has beautiful rose gold shades that are all very neutral.

What's on your Christmas wish list this year? Am I missing anything that you think is a must have for the Christmas season?

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I have been nominated for the LiebsterAward by the wonderful Ashleigh from MurdockTalks. Her blog features all sorts of different things from candles to makeup and I love it, you can check her out Here! This is basically an award for new bloggers to be recognized and connect with more viewers!

The Rules of the Liebster Award are:

You nominate someone with less than 200 followers.

You must then put the logo somewhere in the post and on your blog so others know you've been nominated.

Write 11 facts about yourself

Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you set for you to answer.

Also link the blogger who nominated you.

Nominate 11 other bloggers.

Finally, you must write 11 questions for the nominees to answer.

11 Facts about me:

1. When I was a kid I drew all over the bathroom wall with lipstick.. I think it was a sign about my future addictions in life.

2. I am a sample hoard. I will go to Sephora and stealthily get 5-6 samples that I keep for months as back ups (mostly do this with eye creams)...

3. My favourite colour always has been and always will be pink. Nothing makes me happier than every shade of pink.

4. I have this obsession with Ellie Goulding. She has a song for every emotion and I've been listening to her non stop the past few months.

5. The Great Gatsby was my favourite novel from high school english classes. Gatsby will always be one of my favourite book characters.

6. My top 2 favourite females of all time have to be Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth the First.

7. I have a golden retriever named Tia and she is a serious princess/diva you'd have to see it to believe it.

8. I bought my first pair of Prada shoes this summer in Milan (during that European sale time of course..)

9. My favourite beauty blogger/youtuber has to be EmilyNoel83 - I started my youtube and blog obsession with her

10. I'm in love with the scent of rose and will buy anything if it smells like them.

11. I met my boyfriend from a group project in our business class that we were assigned to back in our first year of University. The best group project I ever had to do.

11 Questions from Ashleigh:

How did you choose your blog name? I randomly stumbled upon it when my mom was listing off ideas on names that I could use. I checked to make sure it wasn't taken and that was the beginning of Dreaming in Beauty by Sarah. The By Sarah part had to come in when dreaminginbeauty appeared to be taken.. sadly.

Who are your favourite bloggers? Definitely would have to be EmilyNoel83 (That's her youtube name) - her blog is beautybroadcast. I also love Temptalia - i think her website has phenomenal reviews and I check it out always before purchasing any sort of product because her rating scale is amazing. Check them out!

What is your dream job? I definitely want to get into Sales, so a dream job would be to work for a makeup company in sales.

One beauty product that you could not live without? Lipstick. Wear it all day, everyday.

If you could only have products from one makeup brand, what would it be? That's a tough one. I love different brands for different reasons but I would have to say MAC. MAC carries my favourite lipsticks of all time and that's the most important part of my makeup. I also love their powders and eyeshadows so I think it's an all around good brand for my types of makeup looks.

What is your favourite season? Why? Fall. I love the outfits and makeup in fall. I hate being super hot and sweaty, I prefer when its cooler and the views are better.

What is on the top of your Wish List? The Sigma premium brush set. I want to see what all the hype is about.

Gold or Silver? Gold.

What is your favourite candy? I love chocolate (does that count?)... Frey chocolate from Germany is the best but if I don't have that Smarties do the trick.

What movie did you last watch at the theatre? Meet the Millers I think with my boyfriend.

What are you looking forward to? Christmas.... I want exams OVER so I can bake for 5 days straight and wear my Italian wine apron. Also Christmas means I can wear over the top glittery makeup and I don't have to worry about looking like a disco ball.

I Nominate:

It is so hard to find people who haven't been nominated that I think have amazing blogs! So I did my best and I was only able to come up with five.

Friday, November 15, 2013

I wanted to just let you know about an event in the Mississauga area, for any of my readers that might live close to there! I am actually going to be working at the Estee Lauder counter on Nov 23 for the Beauty Express Gala at Hudson Bay within Erin Mills Mall. I will be there alongside Shelley Jarret of SJ Magazine who will provide consultations on how to look and feel good this season! I will attach the flyer below for everyone to check out. It's going to be a great time. XOXO

Monday, November 11, 2013

I'm crazy busy this week and just had time for a really short post! Since I did my MAC haul awhile ago I've been testing out this concealer for under my eyes and on any scarring or acne spots. It's a very light texture and it's not thick at all. It blends extremely well under the eye and over any spots, without any caking up. I do find that if I don't set this properly under the eye it will crease but almost every concealer creases on me so I don't find that to be a deal breaker. I have shade NW15 which is my skin tone, I typically put a tiny bit of the Maybelline lumi pen in radiant on top to do the brightening aspect because I need quite a bit of coverage on my undereye. The applicator is a flexible brush so you can swipe it on everywhere but for my acne spots I typically put in on my hand and then use a brush to dab it on so that I don't get any of the bacteria back into my product. The coverage is really great and it hides any dark circles and acne spots I may have. I would definitely repurchase this and highly recommend it as a nice creamy light concealer.

Let me know what you're favourite concealers are! I will be doing a giveaway when I reach 100 followers so definitely follow me on GFC and bloglovin to make that sooner xxoo

Thursday, November 7, 2013

So I'm currently experiencing one of the worst breakouts ever. I haven't implemented anything new into my skincare regimen or changed anything in my diet so I'm assuming the change in weather here has to do with it because I know a few of my friends have experienced the same thing. I was home last weekend and I knew I had to start the healing process of the acne thats come up only on my jawline and cheek of one side of my face (weird I know). I decided I needed to pick up the cupcake face mask from LUSH which I've samples of before and knew helped with some breakouts.

It's fresh, it looks look chocolate on your face, its only $6.95 CAD but it only lasts 2 weeks. You can use it roughly 2-3 times a week so I'm probably going to lean more towards 3 times a week to dry out my spots. It's not drying on the skin and you're skin feels great and clean after you use it, all the ingredients are natural, hence why it goes bad so soon. I've noticed in a week my spots have shrunk, not gone away but I didn't expect them to magically disappear since they were really bad. My pores feel less clogged and I've noticed I'm less oily since I started implementing this into my weird breakout period.

I'm not sure how this mask would work on cystic acne because I don't have it anymore since I went temporarily on an oral medicine over the summer from my dermatologist. The medicine seemed to stop them from returning even after I stopped using them which was nice. Cystic acne is from within so I don't feel like this mask would help much for it. I do however recommend it to anyone with oily acne prone skin that's suffering a breakout or just wants to be prevent any spots from coming up due to a weather change or hormonal stress issues. It's definitely the best fresh face mask from lush I've used, I wasn't a fan of catastrophe cosmetic (the blueberry one I think), it did nothing for my acne and I know it bothered my sister and made her face feel tight after which is bizarre because it's meant for sensitive skin.

What are your secrets for battling a breakout? Have you tried Cupcake mask?

Monday, November 4, 2013

Hey everyone! I had a busy birthday weekend and during it my boyfriend took me the to the MAC store and I invested in a customized MAC quad with the most gorgeous shades. The shades I picked up were Satin Taupe (obviously), Star Violet, Nocturnelle and Twinks. Some really beautiful plummy shades along with a gorgeous taupe and reddish brown. I've never owned a MAC palette so it's extremely exciting for me and I wanted to go with wearable shades that I didn't have in my naked palette and others. That's why I stayed away from too many brownish neutrals and went for more taupes and plums.

Left to Right - Top: Nocturnelle, Twinks

Bottom: Star Violet, Satin Taupe

Nocturnelle, Twinks, Star Violet and Satin Taupe

Left to Right

This was taken in daylight

Nocturnelle, Twinks, Star Violet and Satin Taupe

Left to Right

(Here you can see more of the shimmer in the last 3 shades, as well as more of the red tones in Twinks)

This was taken in an area without light and did not use flash

Star Violet is similar to Cranberry (which they were sold out of) but it's lighter which is probably going to work better on my fair skin because I can't ever go too too dark with makeup or I look insane. Satin Taupe isn't translating as gorgeous on camera as it is in real life, same with Twinks. Satin Taupe and Violet have the most shimmer/sheen and Twinks has a light sheen. Nocturnelle is completely Matte.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the shades that I picked out personally. What colours do you have in your MAC palette?

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About Me

Welcome to my blog! I'm Sarah, a university student that has a huge obsession with anything beauty related. You will find my thoughts on makeup, skincare and whatever else I think is worth telling you about! XOXO